Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: Thumbs Down I was observing a class of first graders a few years back and the teacher had the students all sitting on the floor around her. She had them come up to the board one at a time and answer a math question. She would then ask the class if they thought the answer was right or wrong and they were supposed to be indicate by giving the child a thumbs up or thumbs down signal. I was student teaching then and it just struck a nerve in me that a first grade teacher would have an entire class giving a child thumbs down if they were wrong. This seemed very emotionally disturbing to me. Does anyone do this or find a problem with this with students that are so young? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) I could understand how this may appear to be harmful for the student receiving the thumbs down but it helps keep all students engaged in the activity. It might be helpful to ask the students, after the thumbs down, for a volunteer to help their friend out. I would also save this time of activity for end of the unit or lesson to ensure that the students had a decent amount of knowledge on the information.